Happy Thursday TV fans!  After watching the CW’s Riverdale season 3 episode 18, the Invasion of the Body Snatchers drama continued, as some of our favorite characters dove deeper into trouble.  Whether they were looking for answers or comfort, darkness is never too far away in Riverdale.  Please note spoilers are ahead if you have not gotten a chance to watch yet.  In last night’s episode, “Chapter Fifty-Three:  Jawbreaker,” Jughead works with FP to investigate the town’s latest murder.  Meanwhile, Betty tries to get through to Alice, Toni worries about Cheryl’s involvement in the Farm, and Archie is up for a rematch with Veronica’s full support.  My top 5 moments from Riverdale season 3 episode 18 are:

5

“I felt reborn.”

In the beginning of the episode, Betty continues her conversation with Edgar Evernever, who begins to reveal more about himself.  Edgar explains that he previously felt lost and found himself on a farm, which made him want to recreate that feeling of being reborn with his own farm.  Betty recognizes that it sounds like a nice story and all, but she is not buying it whatsoever.  Edgar does not reveal anything about how Cheryl and Alice are seeing their dead relatives, as he vaguely explains that they are discovering the best versions of themselves.  Betty refuses to let Edgar turn everything around on her and decides to get through to her mother once and for all.

4

“I’m always in your corner…”

Archie feels very passionate about honoring Baby Teeth’s death and Veronica works with him to get their gym, the El Royale, in the spotlight.  Elio agrees to let Archie have a rematch against Randy, but decides to dose him with “G,” which is some kind of bad batch of fizzle rocks that apparently turns people into zombies.  Not really, but the foaming at the mouth and the extreme behavior sort of had me thinking along those lines.  I mean, they are only a town away from Sabrina and Greendale so anything is possible.

Archie is able to knock Randy out, but the drugs may have actually done a lot of damage, as Randy is not waking up yet.  Even though the fight was entertaining, I was more interested in the lingering stare between Archie and Veronica.  Is there hope for Varchie?  It looks that way and even Josie notices that Veronica certainly didn’t hold back when she purchased Archie some new attire for the fight.

3

“You’re a daughter who wants her mother back just like I want my girlfriend back.”

Finally someone else notices what is going on with the Farm!  After Cheryl trades in her signature red for a white ensemble, Toni is beyond concerned about her.  Toni approaches Betty, who fills her in on what she knows so far.  Toni continues to try and get through to Cheryl, but Evelyn has other plans.  Evelyn confronts Toni and Toni tells her, “Bitch I love her and she loves me.”  Seriously Evelyn, you better watch out.  Evelyn proves to be manipulative and conniving, as she tells Cheryl that she needs to choose between Toni and Jason.  Toni says that there has to be another way and begins her own runway walk down the halls sporting some white attire.

I was a little worried that we had lost our girl Toni to the Farm as well, but she is undercover, still working with Betty.  I have to say that I really enjoyed the interactions between Betty and Toni in this episode.  We don’t typically see too much between these two, but they both have a common goal now and I’m interested to see them continue to work together to bring down the Farm for good.

2

“I will kill you…”

After crossing Toni, Evelyn makes the mistake of confronting Betty.  Betty has had enough and slams Evelyn against a locker and threatens her.  Go Betty!  She tells her that she sees right through her and wants her to stop messing with her and her family.  Betty doesn’t want to give up on her mother and even resorts to kidnapping her and keeping her in Dilton’s bunker.  It seems a bit extreme, but Betty will do anything for her mother.  Betty tells Alice, “The past is part of who you are,” but Alice doesn’t seem to want to remember the pain.  Alice even begins burning the old photos that Betty shows her and Betty comes to the realization that she may need to let her mother go after all. 

After listening to one of the tapes, Betty hears her mother’s thoughts on her, recognizing the same darkness in Betty that she saw in Hal.  Betty continues to confide in her father about everything, but now he wants a favor in return.  He’s ready to return home, but I’m not really sure how that would work.  I mean, you don’t just get to leave prison and all.  Betty is continuously pushed again and again, but will this release the darkness within her or will she channel her love for her friends and family?

1

“Save the little princess.”

After Jughead and FP catch Kurtz, Kurtz continues to be overly creepy and tells Jughead that “Baby Teeth was only the warm up to the ultimate quest.”  He further explains that there is still one final game for Jughead and his family and we cut to Jellybean being brought to the Gargoyle King.  I have so many questions here.  Now that we have been focusing on the Farm so much, the Gargoyle King has taken a back seat, but it looks like he or she is done hiding in the shadows.  However, why is the Gargoyle King so interested in the Jones family?  Is there a connection between the Gargoyle King and Gladys?  We know that she is controlling the drug trade, but is she somehow pulling the Gargoyle King’s strings as well.  I previously thought that Hermione could be the woman behind the mask, but I’m not really sure what she would get out of hurting the Jones family.

There are a lot more players now and it’s difficult to determine who is the true Gargoyle King.  Jughead also previously thought that perhaps Baby Teeth was murdered by a copy cat killer.  Baby Teeth clearly struggled and he had a matchbook stuck in his throat from the Maple Club, which also potentially incriminates Penelope Blossom.  We know that there is a connection between the Gargoyle King and the Midnight club from so many years ago, but what is the real motive here?  If the Jones family is at the center of it, we need to carefully look at all of their potential allies and enemies.  It looks like no one can really be cleared as innocent, but what is their end goal?  Stay tuned!

I hope you enjoyed the list and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Riverdale in the comments section below.  Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

**I am so excited to announce that my book, The Search for Alice, is now available!  If you enjoy dark fantasy, fairy-tale retellings, paranormal romance, horror, and mystery, then this might be the book for you or someone you know!  Thank you for taking the time to check it out and I appreciate any feedback as well.  I hope you enjoy! 

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